Spoon & Shutter

Killer Coconut Cake!

From Susan: It wasn’t THE BIG ONE – that’s next year … but 49 is scary enough to want to ward off the getting-old blues with food, friends and … well, we didn’t drink anything that begins with “f” so there goes my alliteration … We did drink lots of great wine – thanks to our generous and thoughtful friends Alex and Smadar Berlingeri, owners of Wine Sources – who always arrive with a big tote full of “leftover” bottles.

But I’m getting ahead of myself … The story starts Friday night, when with Ted away on an overnight photo assignment in Cape May, I put on some Little Feat, poured myself a big glass of red wine, and set to making my birthday cake. I had in mind a luscious coconut cake our baker used to make at my former restaurant, Village Green in Ridgewood – light white cake loaded with coconut, with a meringue icing topped with more coconut. It always seemed to me that this was a quintessentially Southern cake; but for the life of me, in my enormous library of cookbooks – including a number of Southern ones – I couldn’t find a recipe that sounded right. So of course I turned to the Internet, eventually finding what I was looking for from Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa) and Paula Deen. The cake is Ina’s, a denser one than what we served at Village Green, but the addition of almond flavoring especially appealed to me. Her icing was cream cheese-based, however, which I absolutely did not want. Paula’s icing, the classic 7-minute frosting – I have to admit I had never made this before – was perfect. It calls for a double boiler, which I don’t have, but a heat-proof glass bowl set over a pot of boiling water worked just fine.  The result was one of the best cakes I have ever made! If you like coconut, you have to try your hand at this easy-to-make, beautiful confection. (I intended to serve it with sliced fresh strawberries, but I forgot and no one missed them …!)

The ladies in black and white - no, we didn't plan this! From left: Ethel, Tabitha, Susan, Smadar, Bridget

Now, on to the rest of the meal. Darling Ted, as tired as he was from his photo shoot and all the driving, prepared a fabulous birthday dinner – with the help of our good friend (and Spoon & Shutter regular) Tabitha. The menu: Shrimp and Bay Scallop Ceviche, Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri, Roasted Red Potatoes and Salad of Baby Greens with Hearts of Palm, Oranges and Cilantro Dressing. Tabitha created pretty centerpiece bouquets with pink tulips from another dear friend, Bridget (who picked me up earlier in the day to treat me to a birthday pedicure!) and flowers from the garden. The dining room was glowing with candles and the love of good friends – THANK YOU ALL for the BEST birthday!!

The birthday girl gets the giggles ...

Shrimp and scallop ceviche

Dinner is served

The hilarity continues ...!

Killer Coconut Cake

Cake:

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

5 extra-large eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 tsp. each almond and vanilla extracts

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 cup milk

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut, plus more for filling and covering finished cake (I used an entire bag).

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour 2, 9-inch cake pans.

Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 3-5 minutes, until light yellow and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a bowl. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl down once during mixing. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer set on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk in 3 parts, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Fold in the coconut with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter evenly into the two pans and bake for 45-55 minutes until the tops are browned and a tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Barefoot Contessa at Home.

7-Minute Frosting:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tbsp. light corn syrup

1/8 tsp. salt

1/3 cup water

2 egg whites

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Place all ingredients except for vanilla in the top of a double boiler (or a makeshift one, like I used, with a Pyrex bowl over a pot with about an inch of boiling water in it) Beat with an electric hand mixer for one minute. Place over boiling water and beat constantly on high speed for 7 minutes, making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the top pan. Remove top pan from over the hot water and beat in vanilla. (This frosting, while a little bit of an effort to make – my arm got tired holding the mixer for 7 minutes – really does work beautifully!)

Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread with about a cup of frosting and a layer of coconut. Top with second layer; cover sides and top of cake with frosting. Press a generous amount of coconut on to sides and top of cake.

Frosting recipe from Paula Deen.

Shrimp and Bay Scallop Ceviche (a little different from other ceviche recipes in that you slightly cook the seafood.)

4 cups fish stock or clam juice

1 lb. small shrimp, shell on

1/2 lb. bay scallops

1 small red onion, finely diced

1-2 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped

2 bunches cilantro, stems trimmed and roughly chopped

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1 tsp. salt

Bring the stock or clam juice to a boil in a large pot. Add shrimp and scallops, cook 1 minute. Strain, reserving the liquid, and spread seafood on a baking sheet to cool. When cool enough to handle, peel the shrimp. Combine all of the remaining ingredients with the seafood and 1 cup of the cooking liquid in a bowl and mix well. Cover with plastic and chill thoroughly before serving.

Recipe adapted from Mesa Mexicano, by Mary Sue Millken and Susan Feniger.